Brian Mackey Realtor

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🍣 A local sushi favorite is moving into the old Tsunami spot on Highland Road!

Tsunami Sushi closed there in August after the company went through bankruptcy. Now Umami Japanese Bistro is opening its 2nd location in that same space at One Smart Way 🙌
✍️ Lease signed October 27
🗓 Hoping to open in January
📞 Fun twist: the landlord asked Umami years ago, before Tsunami moved in. This time the answer was YES
📍 Umami has been on Burbank Drive since 2015
🍱 Known for sushi rolls, nigiri, hibachi & small plates like hamachi crudo and lollipop lamb chops
🥢 Same 3 owners run Geisha Sushi in Prairieville

Co-owner Tien Le says the new spot will have a different menu and concept, with the same top quality ingredients 🔥

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🎭 The Lincoln Theater is BACK, Baton Rouge!

The historic theater on Myrtle Walk St. in Old South Baton Rouge first opened in 1949 🎬
🎺 Stars like James Brown, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Nat King Cole & Ella Fitzgerald performed there
✊ It was a meeting place during the 1953 Baton Rouge bus boycott
🔨 The Louisiana Black History Hall of Fame spent more than a decade bringing it back: new roof, electrical & plumbing, a bigger stage + a new two-story museum
💰 The project topped $4 million (city-parish grants, state money & private donors)
✂️ Ribbon cutting for its 77th anniversary was Oct. 29
🎉 Grand opening this month
🎶 First show: "Mahalia: A Gospel Musical" in December

History like this is part of what makes Baton Rouge home ❤️

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🏛️ Downtown Baton Rouge is getting a brand-new front door for visitors!

Visit Baton Rouge just got its renovation permit (valued at about $5 million) to turn a historic building on Lafayette Street into its new HQ & visitor center 🙌
📍 Near the Hilton & Hotel Indigo

💸 The snag: construction bids came in $1M+ over estimates this summer
✂️ The fix: they cut a planned rooftop event space, added a support column & trimmed fixtures and furniture
🔨 Work starts in the coming weeks and takes about 12 months
🎉 Goal: open by early 2028
📏 Almost double the size of their current ~7,000 sq ft space on 3rd Street, their home for nearly 20 years
🏠 They bought the property in Feb 2025 for $850,000
💰 Applying for state historic tax credits + selling their current building & parking lot to help cover costs

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💼 Free training. Paid while you learn. A job lined up before day one.

Meta's new workforce academy launches in Baton Rouge on Nov. 2 🚀
👷 First class: 50 to 100 trainees
📍 ABC Pelican Chapter's training center on Highland Road
🗓️ 5-week classes, with a second class starting in December
✅ Every trainee has a job with a Meta contractor lined up before training starts (in Louisiana or another state)
💵 Paid during training, and Meta covers travel & lodging for out-of-towners
🆓 Free, no experience needed

The $115 million program trains workers for AI infrastructure jobs like data center construction, fiber installation & power grid work ⚡

Baton Rouge is one of just 4 pilot markets, along with Indiana, Ohio & Texas 🙌
And Meta's Richland Parish data center is expected to need 7,500 construction workers at its peak 🏗️

Know someone who'd want in? Send them this 👇

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🎱 Gonzales is getting a pool hall with NO bar… on purpose!

The Billiard Brothers is opening at Tanger Outlets in Gonzales, expected in early November 🙌
📐 6,900 sq ft entertainment spot + game-room showroom
🎱 Nearly 20 pool tables
⚽ 4 foosball tables
🎮 3 PlayStation 5 stations + TVs for the big games
💵 $5 per person, per hour
🍕 Bring your own food & non-alcoholic drinks
👨👩👧 No alcohol, so it's built for families & teens

Coming up: junior billiards leagues, foosball tournaments, team-building events & DJs on Friday and Saturday nights 🎶

Fun fact: owner Will White supplied the black 9-foot pool table for Kanye West's VIP area at the Superdome 😎

If Gonzales works, he's eyeing Central, Hammond & the Northshore next 👀

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🚗 Remember that nearly 10-hour I-10 backup last month?
It just brought back a $1 BILLION idea…

🌉 DOTD is studying "the bump," a bypass using the U.S. 190 bridge, new connectors & a new bridge near Plaquemine
📋 It's part of DOTD's bigger I-12 corridor study

But the EBR Chamber says there's a cheaper fix 👀
🛣️ Widen Airline Hwy to 6 lanes + sync the lights
🗳️ Voters approved it in 2018 with 61% of the vote
💰 About $140M vs. about $1B for the bump (per the Chamber's infrastructure chair)
⏱️ Roughly 1/8 the time

No price or decision date from DOTD yet. Quarterly public meetings are planned 📅

Which would you pick? 👇

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🐯 LSU has never been this BIG!

📚 44,115 students this fall, the most in LSU history
🎓 Undergrad record: 35,643
🎓 Grad & professional record: 8,472
🆕 Freshman class: 7,482 (4th largest ever)
⭐ Highest freshman high school GPA in LSU history: 3.88
✈️ About 34% of students are from out of state

What it means for Baton Rouge 👇
🏢 More demand for apartments & rentals near campus
🍔 More customers for local shops & restaurants
🏡 More young people who might stay and put down roots

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🏈 Walk-On's is going SMALL, and it starts right here in Baton Rouge!

📍 8150 Perkins Rd, between Essen & Bluebonnet
📐 3,500–4,500 sq ft (a typical Walk-On's is about 8,000)
🥡 Redesigned kitchen built for more takeout & catering
💰 Smaller size keeps building costs under $2 million

The goal? Make franchise ownership easier for local entrepreneurs 🙌

🏛️ The 1.66-acre site's rezoning went to the Planning Commission this week
🗓️ Planned opening: early 2027
🔢 It would be Walk-On's 9th Baton Rouge location

A full-circle moment for a Baton Rouge original 💜💛

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🏡 83 new homes just got the green light in Prairieville!

Ascension Parish planners voted 3-1 to approve Daigle Pointe 📍
➡️ 83 single-family lots on 28 acres
➡️ Corner of Daigle Rd & LA 929

🚧 The catch: the planned roundabout at Daigle & 929 has to be built FIRST
🗓️ Parish staff say roundabout construction is planned for early 2027
🚗 Planners also required a second entrance on Daigle Rd

🙌 Not one resident spoke against it
📈 That makes 343 single-family lots approved since the moratorium ended

New homes are coming, at a pace tied to the roads 👀

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Is a data center coming to Livingston Parish? 🤔🔌

⚡ NextEra Energy is exploring a 500-megawatt battery storage facility in the parish
📄 Permit records say it would power an unnamed commercial development
📍 The buzz centers on a 690-acre site off Buddy Ellis Road, rezoned from residential to industrial in Nov. 2025
🤐 Parish President Randy Delatte says nothing is final and he hasn't signed any NDAs, but a council member says he signed a confidentiality agreement

💰 The jackpot side: Delatte has floated about $140M a year in property taxes and better pay for teachers and deputies
🏡 The headache side: neighbors are worried about water, noise and home values

Jackpot or headache? Tell me where you stand 👇